2011 release. "'This is another new one off the greatest album ever made. It's called 'My Kingdom.'' Rock and roll arrogance has never hemmed so close to the truth as this Ian McCulloch introduction to 'My Kingdom' during the 1983 A Crystal Day concert special. Not only were Echo & the Bunnymen aware of the instant classic status of their latest LP, but the grand, majestic and fluid nature of Ocean Rain made it clear that the band had indeed set out to make 'the greatest album ever made.' Ironically, despite all of their work and focus, this masterpiece sounds like it was simply handed down from the gods. Following the more rock-oriented material on their first albums, the songs on Ocean Rain were a departure. The aim was to make something 'conceptual with lush orchestration, but with a twist.' With their success using strings on tracks like 'The Back of Love' and 'Never Stop' providing confidence, the band employed a 35-piece orchestra for Ocean Rain. Guitarist Will Sergeant would later describe the finished recording as 'windswept; dark and stormy.' The Scott Walker / Love inspired string arrangements, unusual instrumentation, inventive recording techniques and McCulloch's abstract and bewildering mysticism all added to the unique and timeless quality of the album. A statement of purpose by one of the elite bands from the '80s underground, Ocean Rain includes several of the Echo & the Bunnymen's most adored recordings and some of the best songs from the era. 'The Killing Moon,' 'Silver,' 'Seven Seas,' 'Crystal Days' and the aforementioned 'My Kingdom' continue to mesmerize a new generation of post-punk romantics, and the band's influence can be heard in the grandiose spectacle of groups such as Arcade Fire and British Sea Power."

2015 repress. "Originally released in 1971, America is one of the artistic high points of John Fahey's career. And yet, for nearly 30 years it was not heard in its entirety, as what was originally intended as a double album was pared down to a single LP. 4 Men With Beards is proud to present the complete America double album, released on vinyl for the first time ever. Fahey himself had this to say about America: 'Out of all the songs I ever wrote, I consider only two of them 'epic' or 'classic' or in the 'great' category and they are both on this record.' Deluxe gatefold packaging that includes a reproduction of the original illustrated booklet." 180 gram vinyl.

First recording of the duo of legendary French musician Thierry Müller (Ilitch, Ruth...) on keyboards and guitar and French alto sax player Quentin Rollet (played and recorded with Nurse With Wound, Bitchin' Bajas, The Red Krayola, David Grubbs, Mendelson, Prohibition, Akosh S. Unit, Jac Berrocal...). A journey through quiet soundscapes alternating with electronics and concrète sounds. A film without image. Recorded by Thierry Müller. Mixed and mastered by Patrick Müller. Artwork by Thierry Müller.

Another shamanic journey in Tazartès's universe. He sings and plays all the instruments and samples, recorded in the very same room as all his other solo records since 1974. Performed, produced, and recorded by Ghédalia Tazartès for Bisou in 2012. Tazartès's son, Lalo, can be heard on "Don't Cry for Me, Mamma." The front cover is a picture of Quentin Rollet, shot by Yannick Ressigeac. The back features a drawing by Lalo Tazartès. Mastered by F/Lor.

LP version. "Hear what happen now! We used to punch the juke box lunchtime... Me and me friends had a kinda thing like the juke box was our sound system and we'd use our lunch money to play the baddest tunes on the juke box. We were aided and abetted by a kinda dodgy little shop keeper cause we were kids and we were in the rum bar punching the juke box when we weren't supposed to be allowed!! So we were breaking all the rules... punching the juke box and taking turns to play the wickedest tunes in the juke box..." --Ossie Thomas. Breaking rules from the outset, Ossie Thomas had furthered his childhood fascination with music while still attending Oberlin High School; many more rules would be broken when, together with Phillip Morgan, he set up the Black Solidarity label in 1979 on Delamare Avenue, deep in the heart of the Kingston ghetto... "I used to tell people that dance hall was like styles and fashions, if you have a wicked style and you have the fashion you go make it in the dancehall... You understand?" --Ossie Thomas.

This LP is a documentation of the very first meeting of Stuttgart-based minimalist jazz duo Fifty-Fifty and Swabian sound exploration society Metabolismus. All players draw from decades of experience with different forms of improvisation, using instrumental and electronic sounds known and unknown to spontaneously create an aural environment of complex simplicity. A wide spectrum of group mind expressions can be heard, from the purely abstract to moments of calm reflection. The title is a meditation on the idea of the impossible, beautifully represented by these words from Alexander Pope:"Mad Mathesis alone was unconfined,Too mad for mere material chains to bind,Now to pure space lifts her ecstatic stare,Now, running round the circle, finds it square."The session was recorded during one afternoon in the summer of 2012 at Sumsilobatem Sound Studio on magnetic tape; any technical imperfections due to the spontaneous nature of the situation were kept in as part of the document. No digital technology was used in the making of this album. Cover art is hand-silkscreened; originally designed by Estuardo Maldonando. "Metabolic music saves you from a life of grey." --KF

Ossia (Young Echo member, operates Rewind Forward, Peng! Sound, No Corner, Hotline Recordings) debuts with "Red X," inspired by Peter Tosh's diary recordings in which he documented his dissatisfaction and mistrust in the run-up to his shocking murder in '87. The track brilliantly bridges dubwise, isolationist electronics and modern soundsystem dynamics. "Blood & Ice (Version)" was coaxed out of a dubplate of "Ice & Blood" and the crackly runout groove of Tosh's Bombo Klaat 7" shot through '70s Copicat tape-delay and an array of effects. Vinyl-only edition of 500 housed in beautiful screenprinted sleeve designed by Studio Tape-Echo.

Ubre Blanca return with their second release for Clan Destine after the amazing Polygon Mountain EP (CDR 12004EP). Continuing their obsession with '70s and '80s horror and B movie soundtracks, fat synth sounds, and live drums, Joel Stone (Shitdisco) and Andy Brown deliver a heady mix of full-on synth and live drums mixed with some more atmospheric pieces. Terminal Island heads straight to some tropical island where horrifying shit is going down, bringing to mind old cinematic masterpieces like Cannibal Holocaust (1980) mixed with Miami Vice. Cover art by Stone, hand-painted with oils over several months.

Visionist resets his Lost Codes imprint as a PAN sublabel, Codes, with a killer collaborative grime/techno collage by Acre and Filter Dread, marking the first time either producer has collaborated properly. "Drumz 34" burrows in with viral eight-bit squiggle and squashed subs before "Flash Speed" arches up a skeletal, mutant eight-bar onslaught and "Trashed" bruks out the toms on a swooping halfstep techno flex. Darkside droog raver "Life" whips reversed drums, bass, and Mentasms with very canny Wendy Carlos vibes, while "Unknown" deals in guttural, monotone functions and "Blood Artist" pulls coarse lo-fi drums and electronics into sharp focus.

2015 repress. Ennio Morricone's soundtrack to the obscure 1970 Italian thriller Le foto proibite di una signora per bene is a nerve-racking listening experience. In film, the atmosphere created by the effect of a disturbing soundtrack causes much of the tension. Much of the score has a very sinister ambience, highlighted by Morricone's sublime use of the human voice. Italian soprano Edda Dell'Orso's cascading vocal tones mix unsettlingly with the stabbing Morricone strings, befitting the movie's Hitchcockian moments. Genius.